Review/Lyrical Analysis - "Good Life" - Kanye West feat. T-Pain
I haven't reviewed many good songs in the history of these reviews. In fact, the best ones only make up like three songs, as shown by last review. So why not review a song I think is good? I want to do more of this in the future so hopefully I can become more positive in this series because often I just end up calling a song obnoxious, the singer an asshole, etc. "Good Life" - Kanye West feat. T-Pain Before I review this song, let me just say that I am probably way over-analysing this. It might just be a brag rap song, but I think I might have some interesting insight so... let’s review “Good Life” by Kanye West featuring T-Pain. The actual review Now when I review a song, before my lyrical analysis, I talk about the beat, the instrumental, stuff like that however I don't have much to say. It samples "P.Y.T." by Michael Jackson, may he rest in peace... MJ gone, our n---a dead* Thanks 'Ye. So, yeah, the beat is pretty nice, I like the basic but pretty fitting percussion and all the weird synthesizer sounds that are going on, like, seriously, whoever is playing the keys should calm down a bit on the effects. Enough of actual review, let's overanalyse the lyrics. Like we always do at this time Yeah? I... I go for mine, I got to shine / So throw your hands up in the sky Yeah! hands up in the sky I... I go for mine, I got to shine I like this chorus. It's typical "I do my own thing and I'm awesome at it" but it does such a good job at being such a crowd-shouter. I bet at concerts if Kanye ever performs this the crowd is shouting "I go for mine, I got to shine" and throwing their hands up in the sky. I really like T-Pain's chorus as well. I'mma get on MTV mama, mama / I'mma blow shit down Okay, I saw a YouTube comment on the video that I really like as an analysis of this line. It says that the chorus is about pissing their fame and money away, and that it's satire of people who think they can get on MTV and just ruin their life, or "blow shit down", by... Splurging on 'trizz Well I was gonna say spending their money on drugs but okay, 'Ye, that works. Hey, I'm good T-Pain, here, if we use that analysis, is saying that he's "good", he's saying he doesn't care about his life, family or anything else other than his fame, his hoes and his riches. Welcome to the good life Quite literally as well, this is the first line in the first verse. By the way, before we get into 'Ye's verse, T-Pain and Kanye West had a really corny and comedic style which I like, because like in "All Falls Down" and "Good Morning", Kanye gets people to listen by being corny and funny while sending a powerful message out. Where n---as that sell D won't even get pulled up in their new V About this line, I think this is actually poking fun at "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire which was supposed to be a hard-hitting gangsta rap song about police brutality, but, like "Fuck the Police" by N.W.A. a decade prior, gave explicit reason why the police should pull them over and interrogate them, with several mentions of guns and weed. And in Kanye's "good life" fantasy, none of this happens. Popstars and rappers ignore touching issues in their song to keep their song from not becoming a smash hit. So this song is a satire on that reckless, ignorant and fake persona that many celebrities play. And I love that this song is coming from Kanye, who has always been very vulnerable and honest as a pop artist. Look at his album 808s & Heartbreak, for example. The good life, let's go on a living spree / Shit, they say the best things in life are free So in this line Kanye is saying that you don't need money to have a good time. You don't need fame. And this is one of the parts in the verses where Kanye's being explicitly honest about this message and not sugarcoating it in sarcasm. The good life, it feel like Atlanta / It feel like L.A., it feel like Miami / It feel like N.Y., summertime Chi I think this line is making fun of celebrities that shout out the names of the cities in songs or concerts, or he could just be comparing this fantasy to places commonly considered the best America has to offer. Now throw your hands up in the sky Did Kanye really just get T-Pain to repeat something from the chorus so his line wil rhyme? I like you, 'Ye, but really, dude? And she got the goods / And she got that ass / I got to look / Sorry! In the sarcastic and half-assed way he says "sorry" I think he's criticizing celebrities who think they can get away with being absolute assholes and thinking that it doesn't matter what they do as long as they have their fame Haters give me them salty looks, Lawry's Here he's comedically talking about how many rappers ignore their hater's criticism and just dismiss them as "salty." Here's an interesting line about the publicly-shared beef with Kanye and 50 Cent, where who won was measured by album sales, and how instead of going typical gangsta rap like 50 did, Kanye did a stylistic change. 50 told me, "Go 'head, switch the style up" / And if they hate, then let 'em hate and watch the money pile up Here he's talking about a quote that 50 Cent might actually not have said, a snarky and sarcastic "Go ahead, switch the style up", and he's responding to that with how many rappers like 50 Cent would do, "eh, let 'em hate, I'm still gettin' money." This is also a reference to a line from 50 Cent's hit "In Da Club", which says, and I quote, "go ahead, switch the style up, and if" n-words "hate, then let them hate and watch the money pile up." Welcome to the good life This is now the second verse, by the way. Where we like the girls who ain't on TV / Cos they got more ass than the models Another honest line from Kanye rather than the satire we've had for quite a while now where he says he doesn't like celebrities who only endorse the famous girls and models, and saying that people without the money should still be positive, cos... they got the ass. Ironic that he later married Kim Kardashian but I'm not gonna get into that. They love each other, not my business. It feel like Houston Okay, you can stop that right now. It feel like Philly It was funny the first time. It feel like D.C. Son of a-- It feel like VA We get it. Or the Bay Yes... Or 'Ye What a twist! Homie, tell me what's good / Why I only got a problem with you in the hood / Like I'm new in the hood / The only thing I wish: I wish a n---a would So here Kanye is pretty explicitly stating he has a problem with famous people who piss money away despite acting like they're in the hood. He probably think he could but / But, I don't think he should So this is him criticizing famous people with no talent. "He thinks he's good but he'll just embarass himself." Then he married Kim Kardashian. Shit, I said I didn't want to get into that. Have you ever popped champagne on a plane / While getting some brain? So here, he's acting like that famous person and exaggerating the party stuff that normal famous people do so much that it's just some insane shit. I mean, I've never popped champagne on a plane while getting some brain, but if you have... contact me. Whipped it out, she said "I never seen snakes on a plane" Okay, it's a dick joke but at least it's a clever dick joke. Ah... I mean, damn, did you even see the test? / You got D's, motherfucker, D's - Rosie Perez** Kanye, I love you and your strange... anatomy jokes. Whether you broke or rich, you gotta get this The video explains this line, saying that "this" is a woman, and this is criticizing the fact that many famous rappers, particularly men, take their ladies for granted. Case in point, Tyga in "BedRock". She watchin' that oxygen, I'm watching ESPN*** And Kanye says the line about getting "this", commenting on how women are treated like objects. Having money's not everything that having it is So here, Kanye gets honest and stops playing the sarcastic persona, saying that money's not as important when you're famous for making music, rather that the art and the product is what is important. I can get behind that. But when I get my card back, activate it / I'm back to Vegas That... kinda rhymed? shrugs I always had a passion for flashin' 'fore I had it / I close my eyes and imagine the good life This is a great ending line for the third verse, where he says that it's not fame that changes people, and that boastful assholes are always boastful assholes, and that his persona had a "passion for flashing before he had fame". He then portrays a teenager or any person inspired by the people they see on MTV with this part: I close my eyes and imagine the good life Because this song is all about Kanye trying to get kids to reject false idols and that these famous people aren't really all what they seem, and their "good life" is effectively ignoring what makes life "life": experience. When it's all the same partying all day and all night, they're not truly having fun. It's a put-on. And while I like some rappers that make brag rap interesting due to their enthusiasm, brag, party and luxury rap always comes off as kinda phoney to me. When Kevin Gates said he was "really real" in the song "Really Real", I stopped believing he was really real. And then we've got T-Pain's outro. Is the good life better than the life I live? / And I thought I was gonna go crazy / And now my grandmama ain't the only one callin' me baby? Here, T-Pain drops an amazing outro where he portrays himself as the dude who's always on MTV, always in the news, because of his partying and reckless antics, where he really asks himself: Should I be living life how my grandmother wants me to or should I be playing this persona, wasting my life away for the money and the fame? And then, almost making fun of people like Lil Uzi Vert, who, yes, I know, didn't exist then, but people like him who try and put a message out there but fail incredibly because they always go back to the sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle, by going off-track and making it a party anthem again, like Lil Uzi Vert in "XO Tour LIfe" where after he sings the chorus, which is about... well... Baby I am not afraid to die**** ...and in the verses he just quits and starts to rap about his hoes and cars. And if you feelin' me now, then put your hands up in the sky / And let me hear you say hey... / I'm good And so was this song. What songs do you want me to review or analyse? Thank you for reading! If you have any suggestions, leave him in the comments below or contact me on my wall or somewhere else I dunno. I'll sure to take a look into the songs. Adieu! I... I go for mine, I gots to shine / So throw your hands up in the sky / I'mma get on MTV, mama, mama, I'mma blow shit down / Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey / I'm good ''Outro ''Have you ever popped champagne while getting some brain? References Some songs that I show lyrics from aren't the song I'm talking about so I add a certain amount of asterisks. In this review, this is the key. * one * = "All of the Lights" (Kanye West) * two ** = "Good Morning" (Kanye West) * three *** = "BedRock" (Young Money) * four **** = "XO Tour Life" (Lil Uzi Vert) Category:2017 Category:Music Category:Songs Category:Lyrics Category:Mrs Chanandler Bong